Florida Cab Companies Launch Insurance Challenge in Uber War

TALLAHASSEE — Taxicab companies in Broward County and Tallahassee filed their second lawsuit against the state in as many days, this time accusing app-based transportation services like Uber and Lyft of operating without proper insurance in Florida.

The cab companies alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is allowing drivers for the transportation services — the taxis’ main competitors in an increasingly fierce ride-sharing war — to operate without the kind of insurance required by law for commercial drivers.

The type of insurance that Uber provides for its drivers, who own or lease their cars, does not meet the requirements of for-hire vehicles, the lawsuit alleges.

The insurance issue has been a major source of contention in the drawn-out battle in Florida and other states between cab companies and app-based ride-sharing services like Uber.

Lawmakers earlier this year grappled with proposals to impose a new layer of insurance on the technology companies in an effort to close a coverage “gap” between when a driver is notified about having a customer to pick up and the “on-call” time when the passenger gets in the vehicle. The proposals failed to pass.